The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1887-05-20
THE PRESIDENTS MAiL.


The presidents mail contains an
average of from 100 to $50 letters a
lay from persons whose claims for pen
,ons are pending before the depart
nent. These people address the chief
executive in belief, probably, that the
pension Office is next door to the white
house, and that theirs is the only letter
ne may receive in a week.
About one-half of these letters are
sent to Mrs. Cleveland. The writer's
n such cases are usually the wives or
daughters of the petitioners Some of
hem bestOw upon Mrs. Cleveland such
titles as ''Her Mejesty," Empress"
and other appellations of royalty.
There are few of the letters that do not
contain some touches of human nature.
They are evidently written in the sim
,cre belief that Mrs. Cleveland will as
sist them if her sympathies can only be
aroused. With this object in view a
yreat mass of details is set forth in the
communication, which, together with
obscure chirography and bad spelling,
makes its understanding a matter of no
nconsiderable time and labor
1t may be said in this connection that
neither the president nor Mrs. Cleve-
and is even aware of the existence of
.hese letters. They are opened by an
InrOmantic and unsentimental clerk at
lhe executive mansion, from whose
nands they fall into the waste basket
and are never heard of again.
The women who adress Mrs. Cleve-
land furnish her with sugges-
lions us to the better method of
presenting their claim to the president.
One of the plans which perusal of the
he letters show that all women hold in
common is for her to wait until Mr.
Cleveland has had his supper and then,
when he is enjoying a quiet smoke in the
aarlor (Sjc) bring the matter to his at
cntOn. Many of them tell her that
his is the hour of the day when a man
most amenable to argument. and
hat they (the writers) prefer this as the
3afest time for presenting their owp
'cquests
The applicants for pensions who
write to the president are, as has been
aid, old soldiers, who. like the
feminine part of the family,
are sadly deficient in the principles of
.ven an elementary education. They
write, too, in more vigorous style
han their helpmeets, and their Ian
guage is sometimes of so robust ma
:ure that it frequently proVokes smile.
For example, an Illinois man who ad-
lresses the president in letter re-
,eived to-day says:
The pension officials tell me to get
,orroborative evidence from some of
my comrades. want to tell you that
t is hell of a matter to get evidence
rom men who go into an action and
never come out again" and then he
continues by saying that his company
vent into the Wilderness a hundred
strong and at the end of the seven day. s
light, there were but nine of the nGm-
Der who were left to tell the taie.
Sometimes the letters are written by
children. who begin i'll this iashion:
DEAR MIR. PRESIDENT: am lit.
lie girl only 10 years of age. My papa
loes not know ] am writing this let
Ter. If he DID he would not permit it. -
Then follows pathetic tale of want
md misery, touching enough in its SIM
pie style of treatment, but rendered
LOUDLY so by the fact of the writers
youth and innocence.
Several months ago one of these
Jouching missiyes chanced to reach the
presidents eye. Its simple pleading
ouched sympathetic cord in the pres
dents heart. The little miss begged
he retention of her father, republi-
,an, on the boarG of medical examiners
n the New England town in which
their home was located. She said he
vas very old and dying of an incurable
disease. The position paid him sala-
~ of about 81, 200 a year, and in view
pf the fact that he could no longer prac-
lice his profession the foregoing sum
vas their only source of income. The
letter concluded naively in these words.
"Papa must not know about this. Ii
must be a secret between you and nae.
Ifyou decide TO keep him mark an x
sn the back of the enclosed postal-card
and then VIII know that you are 60
ing to grant my wish. =
The pres.den sent the letter and in
closure to Commissioner of Pensions
Black, with this Endorsement:
IF there are no charges against the
examiner in question you will oblige
me by retaining him in his present
position. =
Gen. Black investigated the matter,
and found that the exam ner was not
an old man, but, on the contrary, q
lusty young fellow scarcely 80 years oi
age, and that so far from haying ''a
little glrl only 10 years of age, " ht
was not even married.
The telegraph after this couldn car
~ his dismissal quick enough to him.
and since that time letters from llttlt